Red-breasted Flycatcher photographed at Icart [ICA] on 27/10/2012 Photo: © Mike Cunningham (visit site)

The Red-breasted Flycatcher is a scarce autumn and spring migrant to the British Isles. Breeding in the boreal taiga and temperate zones from western Germany & southern Sweden westwards, most birds migrate eastwards to winter in India and Pakistan. A small proportion of birds move into western Europe in autumn (& a smaller number in spring) and birds have even been records in west Africa in winter.

The first Bailiwick record is of a bird seen in W.R. Thompson's garden in Alderney on 1 November 1927. A record by R. W. Llewellyn of two to three hundred birds hitting ther Casquets lighthouse on May 14 1902 (reported in Dobson) must be erroneus. The next series of records came from Sark. Two birds (one a male) were found feeding around the Seigneurie Pond on 7 October 1966. Four days later, on 11 October, two other birds were sighted at Dos d'Ane and a further bird was seen at the Seigneurie Pond on 30 October. In 1970, a bird was seen hawking at L'Ecluse wood on 4 October. Following on from these sight records, Philip Guille caught a total of 12 birds between 1971 and 1997, three in 1971, one in 1972, four in 1976, three in 1984 and one in 1986.In Alderney one bird was seen in 1973 and three on the Casquets 10-25 October 1975 (Conder). Conder also includes a record of a bird seen on 7 June. This is highly unlikely given current knowledge.

It was not until 1976 that a Red-breasted Flycatcher was recorded in Guernsey. A bird was seen at Sous l'Eglise on 16 October and since then it has become a regular autumn migrant, occurring in 15 out of 26 years since. In the 1980s Red-breasted Flycatchers were virtually annual but the numbers recorded declined in the 1990s, despite an increased number of birders.

The premier spot for this species in the Bailiwick must be La Fougeraie in Sark. This wooded valley running up from the coast of Sark has provided 12 records, followed by the Vaux de Monel in Guernsey with five records and the Casquets lighthouse with four. In Guernsey birds have occurred in scattered locations but tend to be sites where tall trees and low bushes are present. Birds have been seen at Jerbourg, Moulin Huet, Le Gouffre, Pleinmont, St Sampson's Marais, Silbe Nature Reserve, Sous l'Eglise, Vimeira (Le Foulon) and in Herm.

Red-breasted Flycatchers are seen in a narrow window in autumn, and occur throughout October and the first half of November. There is definite peak in records in the third week of October (15th-21st). There is one spring record of a bird seen by the RAF Ornithological Society in Herm on 30 April 1984 and a very early autumn record of a bird at Vimiera on 14 August 1977. In 1988, four records were recieved, one at Saints on 13 October and then on the 14th birds were seen at Havelet, Moulin Huet and Trinity Cottages.